While the top four busiest airports in the world remained the same in 2022 as 2021—all U.S. airports led by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) repeating as number one by a wide margin—the rest of the field of last year's top global airports reveals a changing landscape in which familiar global hubs reasserted their presence.

Airports Council International (ACI) World released its annual list of the world’s top 20 busiest airports July 19, and 2022’s figures reflect returning international passenger traffic as the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions receded.

The world’s 20 busiest passenger airports in 2021 were mostly heavily dependent on domestic traffic, with the list highlighted by 11 U.S. airports and five Chinese airports. There are no Chinese airports in the 2022 top 20.

While only one U.S. airport—Seattle-Tacoma International Airport—dropped out of the top 20, three fell out of the top 10 even as they reported strong traffic gains in 2022. Florida's Orlando International Airport (MCO), for example, saw traffic rise 24% year-over-year to 50.2 million passengers in 2022, yet fell from the seventh-busiest airport in 2021 to the 17th last year.

Nineteen of the top 20 airports in 2022 grew passenger traffic by at least 17% year-over-year, with London Heathrow Airport (LHR) reporting a more than tripling of 2021 traffic levels to 61.6 million passengers in 2022. LHR leaped to the eighth spot on the ACI list, after ranking 54th in 2021. 

Also returning to the top 10 were Dubai International Airport (DXB) at number five (handling 66.1 million passengers); Istanbul Airport at seven (64.3 million passengers); LHR at eight; New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport at nine (59.5 million passengers); and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 10 (57.5 million passengers), catapulting from ranking 31st in 2021.

ATL retained the top status it regained from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in 2021, handling 93.7 million passengers in 2022, up 23.8% year-over-year. Following Atlanta in the top four were repeats Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport at 73.3 million passengers handled (up 17.5% year-over-year), Denver International Airport at 69.3 million (up 17.8%) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 68.3 million (up 26.5%).

Los Angeles International Airport, handling 65.9 million passengers in 2022 (up 37.3%), slipped behind DXB to sixth-busiest.

Overall, traffic at the world’s airports surpassed 6.6 billion passengers in 2022, 72.5% recovered versus 2019 and up 43.8% from 2021, according to ACI. The organization noted the top 20 airports represent 18% of global traffic, handling a combined 1.2 billion passengers in 2022.